


best friends stick together (just like best friends always do)

by wonwoology



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Emotional Constipation, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Unrequited Love, han and josh don't rly appear so they're not tagged, i don't even ship jeongcheol but i needed someone to pair him with, i love that that's a tag, if you squint you can see the moments bc i can't resist, it fits any jihoon pairing, jicheol are bros, there's a slight jeongcheol and jihan bc i needed angsty seungcheol, there's not rly a resolution to cheol's dilemma sorry :/
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-29
Updated: 2017-05-29
Packaged: 2018-10-29 23:29:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10864374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonwoology/pseuds/wonwoology
Summary: Jihoon feels his heart chip a little on the edges, but it doesn’t mean anything, right? Because he doesn’t like Soonyoung at all, he’s not supposed to because this is hisbest friendgod dammit and best friends don’t fall in love with each other. Whatever he felt before was just supposed to be a temporary thing because he just really liked having Soonyoung as a best friend, not because he liked him as a romantic interest. It wasn’t supposed to work like that.





	best friends stick together (just like best friends always do)

Jihoon knows how bad he is when it comes to feelings. So when he thinks he even has a smidge of liking for Soonyoung, he tries to convince himself of how it’s only a phase and he pushes him away as much as possible. He rejects any plans his friends invite him to when he finds out Soonyoung is going and his responses to texts from the older are short and cold. But it’s hard to avoid his best friend since diapers because the other male knows Jihoon like the back of his hand and he knows something is wrong so he tries to patch things up, even if his efforts are fruitless because he doesn’t know _what’s_ wrong.

When Jihoon thinks his feelings for Soonyoung have completely subsided, he finally agrees to hang out at their favourite cafe. He’ll be honest; he doesn’t think he looks the best for someone who was “fine,” but he hopes Soonyoung won’t bring it up and they can go back to what they were before. It’s noon and he’s sitting at their usual table, already having previously ordered their favourite drinks so now he’s just waiting for Soonyoung to show up, fiddling with random apps on his phone. The bell that rings whenever someone walks in and out of the cafe sounds and he looks up to see someone he hasn’t actually seen in person for _weeks_ smiling brightly at him.

“Hey, Jihoonie!” Soonyoung chirps as he pulls out the chair in front of Jihoon and sits down. Jihoon wonders how he can be so happy then he remembers that he was the one that locked himself up in his house for weeks, not Soonyoung.

“Hey…,” he says quietly, his voice cracking a little because among being anti-social, he hasn’t actually said much out loud save for the time earlier he ordered drinks. “I ordered for us already. Taro bubble tea, right?” He really hates that he has to question it, even though he (should) know for sure because what if Soonyoung decided he didn’t like taro anymore when Jihoon was distancing himself?

“Of course! You know me so well, Hoonie,” Soonyoung sings and Jihoon can’t help but let out a quiet sigh of relief when he hears that. “How are you?” he questions the younger male hesitantly, his mood quickly changing to a more serious demeanour.

“I’m…,” Jihoon starts, pausing as he searches his mind for a word other than “fine” because he knows Soonyoung wouldn’t believe him if it was just that, but he can’t so he settles for a similar word. “I’m okay, Soonyoung. What about you?” He doesn’t know why he asks because Soonyoung is clearly happy, but the words slip out of his mouth before he can stop himself.

Soonyoung just stares at him for a while. His gaze makes Jihoon uncomfortable and he squirms in his seat but he doesn’t let up until he just shakes his head. “I’m doing well. You know Seokmin, right?” he asks, earning him a nod.

“I’ve seen him around, yeah. Why?”

Soonyoung lowers his voice into a whisper as if he’s telling Jihoon a secret from the government. “I think he’s really cute. I might have a little crush on him.” His lips curl into a wide smile and his eyes crinkle to their signature 10:10 shape. “He’s so funny and exactly my type!”

Jihoon feels his heart chip a little on the edges, but it doesn’t mean anything, right? Because he doesn’t like Soonyoung at all, he’s not supposed to because this is his _best friend_ god dammit and best friends don’t fall in love with each other. Whatever he felt before was just supposed to be a temporary thing because he just really liked having Soonyoung as a best friend, not because he liked him as a romantic interest. It wasn’t supposed to work like that. Maybe he’s just scared he’ll lose Soonyoung as a best friend because if he and Seokmin get together, he’ll be the third wheel and Soonyoung won’t spend as much time with him as before.

He doesn’t realise that he’s been quiet for a long time until Soonyoung snaps his fingers repeatedly in front of his face. “Hello? Earth to Lee Jihoon?”

Jihoon blinks a few times to get a hold of himself before clearing his throat and answering, “Huh? Sorry, I spaced out for a bit there. That’s great, Soonyoungie. I’m happy for you.” He forces what he hopes to be a convincing smile, something he hasn’t done in a long time because he hadn’t felt the need to. This makes him question how he really feels about Soonyoung’s crush on Seokmin.

He vaguely remembers Seokmin from a party that Seungcheol, his other childhood friend, hosted a few months prior. The male was a lot taller than Jihoon, something he didn’t like about the other at first. He was always very loud, not unlike Soonyoung himself and they have similar bouts of humour. Jihoon supposes that the two are probably made for each other.

Their drinks finally arrive in what felt like forever and Jihoon grabs his cup of black coffee quickly, glad for an excuse not to talk as he sips at it. Soonyoung stares at Jihoon again, eyebrows furrowed in what seem to be confusion and worry and a frown decorates his lips. He doesn’t know why but he has the urge to lean over the table and kiss him, kiss away all of Soonyoung’s worry towards him. He feels guilty for making him worry so he gives the other a small, reassuring smile. A real one.

It’s returned, to his relief, and Soonyoung takes this as his cue to start talking about his dance class, about Seokmin, about what he’s missed, and about Seokmin, Seokmin, Seokmin. Soonyoung has this huge grin on his face when he talks about Seokmin and Jihoon wants that grin to be reserved and directed towards him.

“—and he did this really cute thing where he—”

“Hey, Soonyoung?” Jihoon interrupts before he can hear more about the cute things Seokmin does. “I think I should head home. I’ve kind of been working on a new song these days.” It’s a lie. He hasn’t touched his instruments or his lyric notebook ever since the “lock up” but his _best friend_ doesn’t need to know that.

The disappointment is visible on Soonyoung’s _beautiful_ face and he feels bad again so he makes him a promise for them to hang out again soon. The familiar happiness is soon decorating the dancer’s face and he nods.

“Alright, Jihoonie. Good luck with the song!” Soonyoung says, standing up to give Jihoon a hug. Jihoon freezes for a moment before he wraps his arms around his _best friend_ stiffly, his heart pounding against his chest. For what reason, he doesn’t know but he just prays Soonyoung can’t hear it.

He remembers that he hasn’t paid for the drinks yet so he pulls out his wallet and puts a ten on the table, grabbing his coffee and saying a quick goodbye before he rushes out of the cafe.

Soonyoung stares at his retreating back until he too grabs his bubble tea and his wallet to leave a tip even though he knows that the ten Jihoon left is more than enough of one and he leaves the cafe, the familiar _ding-a-ling!_ of the bell being the last thing he hears before the door closes and his ears are met with the bustling noises of a city.

 

\-      -      -

 

The first person to figure out Jihoon’s feelings towards Soonyoung is Seungcheol, his other childhood best friend. Seungcheol isn’t as close to him as Soonyoung is (or was, he doesn’t know), but they’re still extremely close. They’re both at a party hosted by that Seokmin guy Soonyoung likes a few weeks later when Seungcheol confronts Jihoon about it for the first time.

“You’re in love with Soonyoung, aren’t you?” He’s wrong. Seungcheol is wrong because _no_ , he can’t be in love with his _best friend_. So he takes a swig from the red solo cup in his hands, scrunching his face up in distaste before he clears his throat and speaks.

“What do you mean? Of course I love Soonyoung, he’s my best friend.” The words feel wrong on his tongue.

Seungcheol just stares at him, much like Soonyoung did when they met up at the cafe a few weeks ago, except he doesn’t feel as small when it’s Seungcheol. He doesn’t feel as squirmish, as guilty, but he still feels uncomfortable enough to not meet the older’s eyes as he stares. He’s taken by surprise when Seungcheol gently takes the cup in his hands away and his gaze turns to follow the cup as it makes its journey to a nearby table. When the older returns back to his spot in front of Jihoon, it’s quiet again for a moment before he finally speaks.

“That’s bullshit, Jihoon.” The words ring loud and clear in the shorter boy’s ear.

“How? What’s so ‘bullshit’ about loving my best friend?”

“I asked if you were in love with him, not if you love him. There’s a difference, Hoonie,” Seungcheol says softly.

Jihoon goes quiet then because he knows there’s a difference, but he doesn’t want to admit it. He doesn’t want to admit that he’s fucking _in love_ with his stupid _best friend_ that has a crush on (maybe he even loves Seokmin, who knows) someone that isn’t him. He doesn’t want to admit it because then it’ll hurt, it’ll hurt like hell. He doesn’t like feeling overwhelmed and god knows that him finally accepting his feelings towards Soonyoung will put him on freeze mode and no one will see or hear from him for weeks, not even a single text message. None of his friends actually have the key to his house, not even Seungcheol or Soonyoung, and he doesn’t think they know about his spare key so who knows how long he’ll go without human contact.

A deep sigh leaves his lips and Jihoon looks up at Seungcheol. “I’m scared, Cheol. I’ve never felt like this before. And for _Soonyoung_? I’m basically asking to be pitied by others. It’s so scary to be in love with one of my best friends that I’ve known since we were both in diapers. You’d know, wouldn’t you?”

Now it’s Seungcheol’s turn to be quiet and stare at the other. “...Yeah. I’d know,” he sighs.

“Does Jeonghan know?”

“No. I think he’s—” His voice cracks and he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he pauses for a moment. Jihoon waits. “Jihoonie, he’s in love with Jisoo.”

There’s a new tone in Seungcheol’s voice and it sounds desperate and broken. Jihoon wonders, did he sound like that when he was talking about Soonyoung?

He doesn’t know what to say so he just leans forward and wraps his arms around Seungcheol, awkwardly patting his back. The gestures make the elder start to cry as he returns the hug and he sobs into Jihoon’s shoulder. It makes said male cringe a little from the wetness but he doesn’t move from their position.

After a while, Seungcheol finally pulls away from the hugs and wipes his eyes gingerly with a finger. “Um,” he manages, “thanks, Jihoonie.”

Jihoon offers him a small, almost smile, but it’s not quite one. “Anytime, Seungcheol.” His gaze moves to the ground and they fall into a silence. It’s not an awkward one, just comfortable.

Jihoon wonders when he’ll be able to get like this with Soonyoung again, where they can just be with each other without needing words to be spoken, where they can look at each other and _know._

He wants for them to go back to how they were before. Before Jihoon caught feelings so he could just be a good _best friend_ to Soonyoung and help him get together with Seokmin, because a best friend is all he’ll ever be to Soonyoung. He’ll only ever be the grumpy and—dare he say it—short best friend that’s bad with emotions to the happy go lucky person that can make the sun shine with a single smile.

Just then, two people come lumbering past them. It’s Soonyoung and Seokmin and Jihoon can’t help but think about how _good_ they look next to each other. Soonyoung has his arm slung over Seokmin’s shoulder and both of them look drunk, if the red solo cups that were filled past the midway mark in their hands weren’t evidence enough.

They pass without taking notice of the pair in the corner, too busy slurring out their words at each other instead. Jihoon subconsciously lets out a bitter laugh, prompting Seungcheol’s attention away from the retreating couple and back to him.

He doesn’t realise he’s crying until Seungcheol reaches over and wipes down a falling tear. The action prompts Jihoon to start full on _sobbing_ , grabbing blindly in reach for the other’s shirt.

“Oh, Jihoonie.” Seungcheol responds by hooking an arm around him and pulling him close to his chest, letting him cry into his chest. He runs a soothing hand through Jihoon’s hair, murmuring soft, comforting words into his ear.

“C-Cheol... It— _hurts_ ,” he whimpers, fingers clutching tightly on the shirt as he cries. The tears don’t stop, don’t coming and flow freely down his face and wets Seungcheol’s shirt. The tears don’t _fucking_ stop but Jihoon wants them to because they make him feel so weak and vulnerable compared to his usual composed state. He’s glad they’re in a more secluded corner of the house so his breakdown isn’t being witnessed by very many people, hopefully none at all besides Seungcheol.

“Do you want me to take you home?” Seungcheol whispers.

Jihoon manages a small nod, sniffling. “ _Please._ ”

“Come on, then.” One of his arms drop from its position around Jihoon, though the other one is kept placed around the younger’s shoulder in a protective manner. He begins to walk to the door and Jihoon shuffles along, quickly wiping his tears to avoid any confrontation from anyone on their way out.

When they’re in Seungcheol’s car and on their way to Jihoon’s house, Jihoon’s looking out the window before he speaks up. “Hey, Cheol?”

Seungcheol hums to acknowledge him.

“...Thank you.”

“Like you said earlier, anytime, Jihoonie.”

With that, Jihoon feels his eyes start to drift closed, tired from all the crying and he falls asleep to the sound of a car on the highway.

 

\-      -      -

 

When Seungcheol pulls into Jihoon’s driveway, he’s still asleep with his head against the window. He looks at the younger with a fond expression on his face before he unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car to Jihoon’s side. Unbuckling Jihoon’s seatbelt and picking him up like a child, he closes the car door and locks it behind him as he walks towards the house.

Seungcheol rummages through Jihoon’s pockets for his keys and struggles a little with holding the sleeping male and also opening the door at the same time. After a few minutes of difficulty, he finally manages to work the door open and carries him inside to his bedroom, laying Jihoon down gently on the bed and tucking him in.

Jihoon stirs a little and his eyes flutter open slightly. “Cheol?” he says quietly, voice layered in sleep. “Stay?”

There’s hesitation on Seungcheol’s end and Jihoon can see it so the expected answer is no, but when the elder whispers back an, “Okay,” after a moment, it takes him by surprise.

Cheol steps away from bed and begins to undress himself from his restricting clothes. He crawls into bed next to Jihoon who immediately moves up to cuddle into his side. “Cold,” he mumbles.

They’ve done this plenty of times when they were younger so it’s not much of a surprise to Seungcheol and he knows that Jihoon gets clingy when he’s sleepy. But he can’t help but let out a quiet chuckle at how Jihoon feels a need to explain himself.

In Jihoon’s head, all he can think about is how he used to be like this with Soonyoung a lot more. He and Soonyoung would lay in one or the other’s bed and stare at the ceiling, talking about random stuff and laughing to themselves over something stupid. Soonyoung would have one of his arms on his stomach and the other arm would be stretched out across the bed for Jihoon as a pillow even though there’s already one under him. He misses it more than he wants to admit.

“Hey, Cheol?” he asks.

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever do this with Jeonghan?”

“...Yeah.”

Seungcheol doesn't provide any more of an answer and Jihoon doesn’t press him for it. They fall back into silence. Jihoon closes his eyes and lets himself drift off to sleep to the sound of Seungcheol’s heart beat and dreams of Soonyoung.

 

\-      -      -

 

Jihoon wakes up to his phone vibrating nonstop and he groans in annoyance, patting around blindly for it. He takes hold of a phone that he hopes is his, which it is because it’s still vibrating, and sits up. He opens his eyes slowly, rubbing the sleep away from them and he sees that the his notifications are mostly texts from Soonyoung.

 

**_Today 12:15 PM_ **

star boy: jihoon

star boy: jihoon

star boy: ji

star boy: hoon

star boy: JIHOOOON

star boy: JIHOONIEEEEE

 

**_Today 12:26 PM_ **

star boy: JIHOON!!!! WAKE UP!!!

 

**_Today 12:35 PM_ **

star boy: if u dont wake up right now ill go over 2 ur apartment & ring ur doorbell nonstop until u do

star boy: i stg jihoon

 

**_Today 12:40 PM_ **

you: wtf… it’s too early for this

star boy: FINALLY ITS BEEN 30 MINUTES

star boy: get ur ass over 2 the cafe asap we need 2 talk

you: but

star boy: no buts get out of bed n get ovr here NOW

you: ugh. fine, see you in fifteen

 

Jihoon lets out an audible groan at the thought of having to see Soonyoung so soon after he cried his eyes out about him the night before, but quickly slaps a hand over his mouth and turns his head to look down at the sleeping figure of Seungcheol on the bed beside him. Thankfully, his small outburst has done nothing to rouse his best friend from dreamland although Jihoon’s not going to take any chances as he carefully lifts the blanket up and gets out of bed, draping it over Seungcheol instead. 

He grabs some random clothes from his closet then heads to the bathroom to shower and make himself look a little presentable. There are probably tear streaks on his face, not to mention the fact that he never brushed his teeth last night so his breath _reeks_ of alcohol. When he looks at himself in the mirror his suspicions are confirmed. He averts his gaze quickly and tends to his shower, finishing quickly alongside brushing his teeth after.

When he’s done, Seungcheol is still sleeping so Jihoon writes a little note to him about going to see Soonyoung just in case he wakes up and gets worried. Satisfied, he grabs his keys and phone and heads out of the door to meet up with the best friend that he’s in love with but doesn’t love him back. 

Jihoon decides to walk over to the cafe instead of driving because he feels like he needs the fresh air. Although he had been making an effort to get out and hang out with his friends, hang out with _Soonyoung_ , again the past few weeks, he still feels as though he hasn’t been out _enough_. It’s surprising that he thinks that because he likes to stay inside a lot, but he has changed lately. Not by much, but he’s changed.

As he nears the cafe where he’s supposed to meet up with Soonyoung, he begins to wonder why his best friend wanted to talk to him so urgently. Did something happen between him and Seokmin last night as the party and they’re together? Did they get so drunk they ended up sleeping together but regret it? Or is it something entirely different from Soonyoung’s crush on Seokmin? These questions plague Jihoon’s mind as he makes his way to his destination.

Soon, the cafe is in sight and he takes a deep breath as he walks up to the door and enters, hearing the familiar sound of the bell and people talking combined with the scents of freshly baked treats and drinks. Jihoon looks around the place for Soonyoung then sees the excited waving of his best friend, walking over and sitting down.

“Hey,” he says, offering a smile in greeting.

“Don’t hey me! You kept me waiting here for the past thirty minutes because you couldn’t wake up!” Soonyoung immediately starts whining, a pout decorating his lips.

“Ah, did I? Sorry.”

Soonyoung only tsks in response before his expression changes to one of a happiness again. “Are you hungry, Jihoonie? I’ll pay today!”

Jihoon opens his mouth to protest and say that no, he’s not hungry and can just pick something up later when they say goodbye, but his stomach betrays him by rumbling and he shrinks down in his chair sheepishly. “Yeah.”

“Good, because I already ordered for us.”

“Then what was the point of asking me, idiot?”

The conversation turns to teasing banter between the two best friends and Jihoon hopes he can stay like this with Soonyoung forever. 

“Anyway… Jihoonie, you know we’re best friends and that you can trust me, right? And that you can tell me anything?” The tone in Soonyoung’s voice suddenly shifts to one of a serious one, a big contrast to the joking on he just had a few moments ago.

“Yeah…?” Jihoon says carefully. He’s worried. What prompted Soonyoung to ask this out of nowhere? The worst comes to him and then he thinks that oh no, he’s somehow figured out about his feelings and he’s going to say to his face that he doesn’t love him back and that he’s sorry and that he hopes they can still remain friends. Oh _fuck,_ what if Soonyoung hates him now because of it? What if—

“Why didn’t you tell me you had a crush on Seungcheol?!” Soonyoung half yells, directing a lot of eyes on them and Jihoon wants to crawl into a hole and _what?_

“A… A crush on Seungcheol?” Jihoon repeats dumbfoundedly. _A crush on Seungcheol._ He wants to celebrate because holy shit, Soonyoung doesn’t actually know and doesn’t hate him. But why a crush on _Seungcheol,_ of all people? 

“I would've helped you out with him, Jihoon! Although I could tell you didn’t need it, considering you left the party with him last night,” the older boy sulks.

“What? No, that was just Cheol taking me home!”

“But people said he had his arm around you and everything!”

“That’s ‘cause he was helping me walk. I got really drunk. Besides, he likes someone else and I’m helping him through it.” He slips in a little lie there to help make it more believable rather than telling Soonyoung he was crying. “Besides, he’s too much of a big brother to me. Gross.” He pretends to gag, scrunching up his face in disgust to add to the effect.

“Really? Hyung has a crush? Who?”

“Nuh uh, not telling. Ask Cheol-hyung yourself.”

“So cold.” And here comes that god damned pout again. “Ah, I really thought my Jihoonie finally got a crush…” Oh, he had _no_ idea.

“Pft, since when was I _your_ Jihoonie? As far as I’m concerned, I’m my own person.” He wishes he was his Jihoonie though, he really does. “But anyway, how are you and Seokmin?”

“We’re going great so far! Although—”

That’s when Jihoon stops listening. He tries to, he swears, but he just can’t bear the thought of hearing the person he’s in love with talk about someone else as fondly as he does. When the food arrives, he pretends to be occupied with it when really he’s just nibbling on it.

“— _Honestly,_ Hoonie, you’re so lucky you don’t like anyone right now. I like Seokmin so much and he doesn’t even know it! You have no idea how much it hurts.” Soonyoung looks like he’s really sad now and Jihoon doesn’t want him to be like this because Soonyoung deserves a world without pain. He deserves to be happy and loved. He deserves—someone that’s just as amazing as he is, someone that’s all sunshine and smiles and someone that’s _everything_ Jihoon isn’t. Jihoon hopes that if Seokmin and Soonyoung ever do get together, that Seokmin loves Soonyoung as much as Jihoon loves him.

(He hopes because he knows everyone else would treat Soonyoung better than he would and that makes him more miserable than it should.)

Amidst his thoughts, his face twists into a sort of sorrow expression. His eyebrows are furrowed and his lips are thinned, eyes staring straight at the person he loves but not really seeing. “Yeah, I suppose I don’t know. It must really suck, Soonyoung-ah.” He says this with an unintentional condescending tone and Soonyoung looks hurt.

“Jihoon, what’s wrong?” Soonyoung has the look of a kicked puppy and it doesn’t sit well with Jihoon.

“Nothing, Soonyoung. Really, I’m fine. I’m just… really tired and a little hungover from last night,” he lies through his teeth and his best friend knows it.

“I’m just worried, okay? You’re my best friend, you know. I care about you a lot.” _Just a best friend._

“I know. I know you do.”

Soonyoung reaches over the table and grabs Jihoon’s hands with both of his, interlocking their fingers and Jihoon feels his heartbeat quickening. _Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum_ , faster and louder against his chest.

“Best friends forever and forever, right?”

“...Best friends, forever and forever,” he agrees, reluctantly and quietly. _Best friends, best friends, best friends, best friends._ The two words ring loudly in his ear for the rest of the day.

 

\-      -      -

 

**_Today 11:43 AM_ **

you: hey soonyoung

you: can i get seokmin’s number

you: i want to talk to him about something

star boy: OMG ???? R U ACTUALLY MAKING AN EFFORT 2 TALK 2 NEW PPL Σ(ﾟ口ﾟ;)//

you: shut up

you: just give me his number

star boy: so cold (´；ω；`)

 

_STAR BOY HAS SENT A NEW CONTACT_

 

you: thank you

star boy: no prob jihoonie!!! ill tell him i gave u his number

 

**_Today 11:50 AM_ **

you: hey this is jihoon??

you: soonyoung gave me your number

seokmin: oh yh!!! hello!!!!

seokmin: i remember u from the party a while ago

seokmin: soonyoungie told me u wanted to talk to me

you: yeah. can we meet somewhere?

seokmin: sure!! what about this park???

 

_SEOKMIN HAS SENT AN ADDRESS_

 

you: sure. see you there in ten minutes

seokmin: okay!

 

Jihoon can’t get over how similar Seokmin and Soonyoung text and it hurts how perfect they are for each other. They’re both so _happy_ and so _perfect_ and he’s just… not. He’ll never be good enough for Soonyoung like Seokmin is and he just wants his feelings to _go away_.

This time, when he makes his way to the park, he takes his car instead of walking because it’s an unfamiliar place and he doesn’t want to be late. When he gets there, he notices how nice the scenery of the park is. Jihoon silently thanks Seokmin for telling him about this place because he feels at peace here. Although there are a lot of people around, he surprisingly doesn’t mind it.

As he walks over to a bench and sits down, he remembers Soonyoung telling him about Seokmin taking him to a really nice park. He wonders if this was the park his best friend was talking about.

Jihoon supposes he looks pretty lonely sitting there, all alone with nothing to do. It doesn’t matter though, he’s used to it. He takes out his phone and fiddles with it, seeing that it was already past ten minutes and Seokmin should be here already. Just then, a shadow covers him and he looks up in surprise to see Seokmin. Speak of the devil.

“Hi, are you Jihoon?” Seokmin asks, offering a smile and god, it’s fucking blinding. If the sun wasn’t already out, his smile would’ve been a replacement and no one would question it.

“Um, yeah. Hi,” Jihoon offers lamely and moves over, gesturing for the male to sit down, which he does.

“So… Why did you call me out here?”

“Look, I know this is really straightforward and weird since we’ve barely just met but do you like Soonyoung?’

“I—” Seokmin pauses, letting out a breath. “Yes. Why, does he not like me back? Should I stop making advances?” he panics.

“No, no! Nothing of the sort. It’s good that you like him. This makes everything a whole lot easier. You should…,” Jihoon gulps, trying his best to not give up and leave. “You should ask him out, y’know, tell him you like him and stuff ‘cause he likes you back.” 

“Really?!” is Seokmin’s shocked answer before he breaks out in a huge grin. He grabs onto Jihoon’s arm, shaking it excitedly. “You’re serious, right? This isn’t a joke?”

“No. You should go for it. But promise me one thing, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Promise to… take care of Soonyoung for me. Treat him well, okay? He’s special to me.” He refuses to meet Seokmin’s eyes when he says that, choosing to look down at his hands instead.

“Jihoon… Do you— Do you like Soonyoung?” A single nod is all he’s given and it’s not even obvious. It’s a mere tilt of the head downwards and could have been mistaken for a twitch. “So then, why?”

“Because I’m not someone he could ever like like that. He deserves someone to make him happy and I can’t do that. You can though. He’s so—” he stops to make some sort of gesture because he can’t think of the word to describe Soonyoung, “and I’m just _not_ what he is. So just— promise me, okay? Promise me you’ll make him happy and make sure he’s always smiling.”

“O-Okay. I promise. But are you su—”

“ _Yes._ ” And that was that. They say their goodbyes and they leave each other to go on with their lives, one with the person he likes and one alone, but it’s okay. He’ll be okay.

 

\-      -      -

 

**_Today 3:49 PM_ **

star boy: OMG JIHOON

star boy: JIHOOOOON

star boy: GUESS WHAT

you: what

star boy: SEOKMINNIE ASKED ME OUT!!!! o(≧∇≦o)

you: finally

star boy: he told me u talked 2 him THANK U SM ILYYYY ( ˘ ³˘)♥

you: gross

you: send that to seokmin, not me

star boy: will do ;)

 

\-      -      -

 

**_Today 5:36 PM_ **

seokmin: you’re really okay with us?

you: yes

you: even if i wasn’t, soonyoung’s happy so it’s good enough for me

seokmin: okay

seokmin: thank you

you: no, thank you

**Author's Note:**

> i can't believe i finally finished this fic y'all i've been working on it since last october and it's almost june already wtf anyway that really wasn't the end i has originally planned for this fic and i have more written but ?? i feel like it was better to just leave it there. but i mean if y'all want a second part ask and you'll probably get one in another year lmAo
> 
> the second part is gonna have actual jicheol and there's gonna be actual soonhoon angst but don't get your hopes up bc it's gonna take me forever to write so i hope u guys enjoy this ??? thank u for reading this trash fic lol i hope u teared up a little at least
> 
> kinda but not really based off of [this](http://otpprompts.tumblr.com/post/151606377346/imagine-person-a-has-a-crush-on-person-b-but) prompt
> 
> title is from let's be honest by mayday parade
> 
> ps: thanks 2 weerus for betaing  
> 


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